Florence Mills
Florence Mills ---- Florence Mills (January 25, 1896 - November 1, 1927), was an African-American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian who was one of the all-time greatest stars of the black theatre, the first black international female superstar of the Twentieth century and a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Mills became a star when Gertrude Saunders left Shuffle Along to make more money, and was replaced by Mills, who proved to be an even bigger sensation than Gertrude. Florence was succeeded by Baby Esther Jones. Quotes *Baby Flo: "No bracelet, no picture!" *Florence Mills: "I belong to a race that sings and dances as it breathes." *Florence Mills: "I don't care where I am so long as I can sing and dance." *Florence Mills: "The things you do best for other people are the things you would do just as well for yourself. *Gertrude Saunders: "Florence Mills sang a song with soul. I was a trickster. I just did tricks." *Alberta Hunter: "Florence Mills became just as big a star as Bessie Smith but she was the opposite. She was a hummingbird, and dainty and lovely. Her little voice was as sweet as Bessie's was rough, and it was like a cello." Baby Florence Florence joined vaudeville star Bonita, as a dancing pick (piccaninny). Baby Flo was at one point arrested as an underage performer & institutionalized for a time. At age five, she won several dancing contests and was invited to do a dance exhibition for the diplomatic circle and the British Ambassador's wife presented her with a gold bracelet. When she was asked to remove the gold bracelet, Baby Flo said, "No bracelet, no picture!" Florence sung and danced her way through childhood and adolescence on vaudeville. Florence's Successor Baby Esther Mills' successor was Baby Esther Jones. Lil' Esther was a child performer who took on Mills' persona in 1928, a year after Mills' death, at the age of seven. At the Everglades Nite Club, Esther would impersonate Mills, while singing and dancing, and was dubbed the miniature Florence Mills. In Esther's routine she would sing, dance roll her eyes, and would also scat sing. In 1934, Esther's ex-manager Lou Bolton brought Esther's name into Helen Kane's $250,000 suit as originator of "Boop-Boop-a-Doop." The actual scat singing style links back to the African-American musical Shuffle Along, which featured both Saunders and Mills, including Clarence Williams wife Eva. Other performers who wanted to be miniature Florence Mills were, Baby DeLeon, a 14-year-old African-American girl from Cleveland who performed regulary at the Cotton Club in New York City and African-American performer Baby Cox, who was better known as Gertrude Cox and five-year-old African-American performer Baby Selma. Death *After 300 performances of the hit show Blackbirds in London in 1926, Mills became ill with tuberculosis. She died of infection following an operation at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City, New York on November 1, 1927. Trivia *Florence Mills' funeral was the largest Harlem had ever seen. *Mills was a good friend of Eva Taylor. *Mills left behind no recordings. *She taught a seal how to do the Charleston. *When she turned 20, she moved to Chicago and joined the Panama Trio. *Mills is credited with having been a staunch and outspoken supporter of equal rights for African Americans. *Her signature song "I'm a Little Blackbird" was a plea for racial equality, and during her life she broke many racial barriers. Links *Official Website *Baby Flo *Florence Mills and Gertrude Saunders ---- Category:People Category:African-American Category:Baby Esther Category:Baby Esther Jones